A successful communication network depends in large part on planning. Part of planning includes designing the various devices in the network for ease of management. To this end, a communication protocol known as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) was developed and is commonly utilized. SNMP commands include GET for reading information and SET for configuring information. In general, the management of the network is controlled by a Network Management System (NMS). Each device in the network running a SNMP agent has a set of variables about itself which the management applications in the NMS can query. Each set of variables is known as a Management Information Base (MIB). Some MIB variables may depend on other variables. Each variable may have one or more values that are VALID for that variable, one or more values that are INVALID for that variable, or one or more of both. The question of validity is relative to a point of view where the NMS may find one result and the MIB may find another for the same variable. Further, each variable may be either a scalar or a vector. There may be more than one MIB for each device. Devices may include routers, switches, access servers, and the like.
In a further effort to promote the ease of network management, a standard known as Enterprise Management BaseLine Embedded Manageability (EMBLEM) was developed by Cisco Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. The intent of the development of EMBLEM was for every device designer to comply with the standard and thereby improve network manageability.
A definite need exists for an automated means for checking the level of SNMP MIB support by a network device. Specifically, a need exists for a method and apparatus which may be capable of SNMP GET and SET of MIB variables to check their values, capable of verifying any variables that have been SET, and capable of providing a failure report. Ideally, such an automated means would be user friendly, robust, quick, and accurate.